SYRIAN ARTILLERY, WARPLANES HIT REBEL AREAS NEAR CAPITAL

Opposition’s advances threaten government’s grip on seat of power

Syrian government warplanes and artillery pounded restive suburbs of Damascus on Friday and anti-regime activists said a car bomb targeted an intelligence building north of the capital.

Fighting in Syria’s civil war has flared in areas around Damascus as rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad try to push into the city itself. The rebel advances in the suburbs threaten the government’s grip on its seat of power, prompting a punishing response from the military on rebel areas skirting the capital.

Anti-regime activists circulated a video they said showed an explosion near a military intelligence office in the town of Nabk, north of the capital. They had no information on casualties and the government did not comment on the bombing.

The blast came one day after a car bomb hit a gas station in the capital itself, killing 11 people, activists said. While no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, they could be guerrilla strikes by rebel groups who lack the force to battle Assad’s troops in the capital.

Syria’s 21-month conflict has turned into a bloody stalemate that the United Nations says has killed more than 60,000 people, and it warns the civil war could claim the lives of many more this year. International efforts to stop the fighting have failed so far, and although rebels have made gains in recent months, they still can’t challenge Assad’s hold on much of the country.

On Friday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government warplanes bombed suburbs of the capital, including Douma, where twin airstrikes killed more than a dozen people a day earlier.

The Observatory also reported the explosion near the military intelligence building in Nabk, about 50 miles north of Damascus.

An amateur video posted online showed a large explosion and a large gray cloud of smoke billowing from the area. An off-camera narrator said the blast struck the intelligence building.

The video appeared genuine and corresponded to other AP reporting.

Fighting also raged south of the capital, where rebels have been trying to push into the city for weeks.

Damascus activist Maath al-Shami said the government fired rockets and mortars from Qasioun mountain overlooking the capital at orchards near the southern suburbs of Daraya and Kfar Sousseh.

The Observatory reported clashes between rebels and the army in other areas south of the capital and on the road to the city’s airport, to the southeast.

For its part, the Syrian army said in a statement late Thursday that troops had killed “terrorists” in areas around the capital, including Daraya.

The government says the uprising is fueled by foreign-backed terrorists who seek to destroy the country.

“Regime forces are facing very strong resistance in Daraya,” said al-Shami via Skype, but added that government forces had been able to advance down the suburb’s main thoroughfare.